Storm
(Ororo Munroe)
Context
Storm was introduced in 1975 as part of the “All-New, All-Different” X-Men – who took super-hero comics by storm and helped define their Bronze Age . She was emblematic of writer Chris Claremont’s archetype of the powerful, strong-willed super-heroine.
A distinctive trait of the 1975 X-Men was their international origins, showing that mutants were born all over the world. Though she holds an US citizenship Storm was the African “representative”, with a biography spread between Tanzania, Kenya, Egypt and Wakanda. For decades she was thus the leading Black super-heroine.
The writeup is a gisted profile that presents Storm as she appeared in general, rather than digging into a specific take or era.
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Background
- Real Name: Ororo Munroe.
- Marital Status: Married.
- Known Relatives: Achmed al-Gibair (foster father, deceased), Ashake (ancestor, deceased), unidentified paternal grandfather, Harriet Munroe (paternal grandmother), unidentified maternal grandmother, David Munroe (father, deceased), N’Dare Munroe (mother, deceased), unidentified paternal aunt (deceased), Colonel Shetani (maternal uncle), David Munroe Jr. (nephew), T’Challa (Black Panther, husband), extended in-law family via marriage.
- Notes on Relatives: All of Storm’s known direct female ancestors had white hair, blue eyes, and African features, with nature magic abilities.
- Group Affiliation: X-Men, (former) X-Treme X-Men, Morlocks, Hellfire Club (Storm and Magneto once jointly held the position of White King and had access to the HC’s resources).
- Base Of Operations: Xavier Institute, Salem Center, Westchester County, New York.
- Height: 5’11” Weight: 127 lb Age: mid 20’s.
- Eyes: Blue Hair: White
Powers and Abilities
Storm has the power to control the weather. This means everything from a micro rainstorm to water her plants to a full-fledged hurricane that shuts down the entire eastern seaboard (though she was pushing for that one). She can deliver devastating attacks by focussing weather effects as bursts, by lightning, winds, or solid precipitation.
She seems immune to virtually all weather conditions as her power protects her from negative effects, though she was nearly killed trying to deal with an Antarctic blizzard.
Description
Storm is a statuesque black woman with silver-white hair and startling blue eyes. Her uniform has changed several times in the recent past, but she still favors black leather and gold accents with lightning-like motifs, cloaks to catch her winds on, and complicated headgear.
Her hair has run the gamut from ultra-long to mohawk punk to short (just after she had her head shaved forcibly in Genosha), and now is back to her usual ultra long.
Personality
Storm is like her namesake: regal as a queen, cold and aloof to her enemies, frightening in her anger. At the same time she is warm and generous to her friends, nurturing and protective.
It is quite telling of her general personality that she was once worshipped as a goddess by the tribes surrounding Mount Kilimanjaro. This seems to have shaped the woman she has become.
Storm is a lover of Nature in all its facets: she is always surrounded by plants, which she tends like a mother, even talking to them.
Her most outstanding trait is her strength of will, said to be second only to Xavier’s. This is the trait which has won the admiration of friend and foe alike, including Doom and Loki. She is also a cunning and resourceful fighter: players should be prepared to be inventive while playing her.
Quotes
“*Thunder ?* Are you so drunk with artificial power that you would compare your impotent noise to the earth-shaking fury of nature itself ? That, boastful child, is not “thunder”. THIS is thunder… the elemental fury of Storm unleashed !” (kraKOOM !)
DC Universe History
Unlike most mutants who get “saddled” with Kansas Jim’s (excellent) Mutant History, Storm would more readily blend into the Wonder Woman family of characters.
Ororo’s early life was very similar to her youth in the Marvel Universe, but the worship of the African tribes did not sit as well with her, in the DCU. One night, amidst heavy soul-searching, she took to the skies. But, “something happened” to her while she soared over the Mediterranean.
Ororo awoke on Paradise Island, and was welcomed into Amazon society with open arms, becoming one of them. Over time, she came to believe in their ideals (a cloistered group working and fighting to preserve their pacifistic world view in a warlike world, not unlike the X-Men), and was Diana’s closest competitor for representing Themyscira in Man’s World.
Eventually, Ororo left for Man’s World with Donna Troy, and the two supported each other in the search for their parents. When Donna learned her “true” background as descendant of the Titans of Myth, Ororo, once worshiped as a goddess, herself, struck off on her own.
She eventually fell in with the metahuman and alien “freaks” of Netherworld, quickly becoming leader of a tribe calling themselves “Morlocks.”
She would also need to have worked closely with Black Lightning, Orpheus, Cyborg, and DC’s other various black heroes. This connection might even be more important to her, lacking a minority to identify with as she does mutantkind.
Game Stats — DC Heroes RPG
Tell me more about the game stats
Storm
A 2100 Point Character
| Dex: 06 | Str: 04 | Bod: 06 | Motivation: Responsibility of Power |
| Int: 07 | Wil: 12 | Min: 07 | Occupation: Adventurer |
| Inf: 09 | Aur: 08 | Spi: 08 | Resources {or Wealth}: 006 |
| Init: 026 | HP: 075 |
Powers:
Weather Control: 16, Air Control: 08, Flight: 08, Fog: 08, Lightning: 12, Projectile Weapons: 08, Flash (Light & Sonic): 06, Temperature Control: 08, Detect: (Weather Patterns): 07, Cold Immunity: 01, Iron Will: 04
Bonuses and Limitations:
- Weather Control: Storm may substitute AP’s of Weather Control for RV to protect herself and others from weather effects under her control (+2).
- All Powers (except Iron Will) are Contingent to Weather Control (-2).
- Projectile Weapons represents using Air or Weather Control to hurl stones, ice & hail, or debris at a target (0). It can selectively opt to use Area Effect (+1).
- Air Control can be used to provide flight for her teammates, but they are limited to her own Airspeed AP’s (+1), Air Control receives a +5 Bonus for purposes of the Volume of Air she can affect (+1).
- Flash (Light) represents her ability to create dazzling illumination in the form of ball lightning, St Elmo’s fire, or lightning flashes.(0). She can use the Steady Illumination bonus if she chooses (+1).
- Flash (Sonic) represents Thunderclaps (0).
- Fog receives a special +35 bonus for the volume it can cover (+7) (the volume of the San Francisco Bay area to a height of 500 feet above sea level). I arbitrarily assign a +1 FC to each 5 AP’s of extra volume (see New Rules).
- Temperature Control represents her ability to reduce temperature (-1), and receives a special +35 bonus for the volume it can cover (+7).
- Detect: Storm perceives the world as patterns of forces that determine the weather (0).
- Iron Will Is Added to the EV to break Mental Control, not the RV to Resist it (0).
Skills:
Acrobatics (Climbing, Dodging)*: 06, Charisma: 07, Martial Artist*: 06, Medicine (First Aid): 05, Military Science (Cartography, Danger Recognition, Field Command): 05, Occultist (Occult Knowledge, Premonition): 05, Thief (Stealth): 06, (Locks and Safes): 09, (all other Subskills including Concealment): 08, Vehicles*: 06, Weaponry*: 06
Advantages:
Attractive, Area Knowledge (Cairo, Sub-Saharan Africa); Leadership, Lightning Reflexes, Languages (Swahili, Japanese, Russian, Imperial and Common Shi’ar).
Connections:
X-teams (High), Yukio (High), Kitty Pryde (High), Forge (High), Street (Low), Fantastic Four (Low), Black Panther (High).
Drawbacks:
Enemy [Shadow King], Mistrust [Mutant], MIA: Storm’s emotions are usually reflected in the weather around her. She can usually control it if she wishes (I.e., she makes her roll to resist the MIA), MIF [Acute claustrophobia].
Equipment:
Lockpicks [BODY 02. These are normally hidden about her person, using the Concealment Subskill Note: Without a set of tools, Any attempt at picking a lock is subject to Difficulty modifiers over and above any already assigned for lock complexity or security systems].
Previous Statistics
Storm has changed little over the years, but for a younger version deduct 1 AP each from Mental and Mystic Stats, except make Will 10. In earlier stories, Storm’s MIF was a SIF.
During the time she spent without powers, Storm seemed to be much more physically competent than she had been previously. I attribute this to an Increase in her basic Dex to 7, as well as all Skills Linked to Dex, which after she regained her powers, was allowed to slip back to 6. Since there are no rules for this, I consider it a Power Complication subplot of Claremontian duration.
Speaking of Claremont, When Chris Claremont wrote Storm, she displays the Attractive Advantage, but no one else seems to use it. It is included because, although writers don’t seem to use the in-game effect (Character Interaction more effective against members of the opposite sex), still the first thing anybody comments on about Storm is her beauty.
Helper(s): Jackson, Dr. Peter S. Piispanen, William Peterson, Tony Oliviera, Sébastien Andrivet, John Colagioia, Nick Yankovec, Niles Calder, Chris Cottingham, Gareth Lewis, Roy Cowan, Craig Tiscali, Eric Langendorff, Michael Davis.
Source of Character: Marvel Comics (X-Men, Uncanny X-Men, X-treme X-Men, OHOTMU entries, varous other appearances over the span of the last 12 or so years).